The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
An engine combusts a mixture of air and fuel to produce drive torque for a vehicle. Air is drawn into the engine through a throttle valve. Fuel provided by one or more fuel injectors mixes with the air to form the air/fuel mixture. The air/fuel mixture is combusted within one or more cylinders of the engine. An engine control module (ECM) controls the torque output of the engine.
Exhaust resulting from combustion of the air/fuel mixture is expelled from the engine to an exhaust system. The ECM may adjust one or more engine parameters based on signals from sensors that measure parameters within the exhaust system, respectively. For example only, one or more temperature sensors, exhaust flow rate sensors, oxygen sensors, and/or other suitable sensors may be implemented within the exhaust system.
Measurements from the sensors may enable the ECM to adjust one or more engine parameters to adjust one or more of the measured parameters toward desired parameters, respectively. As the number of sensors implemented in a vehicle increases, however, the cost of producing the vehicle also increases. The increased cost may be attributable to the sensors themselves, associated wiring and hardware, and research and development. Additionally, a vehicle producer may produce a number of different vehicles, and each of the different vehicles may have a different exhaust system configuration. Calibrating and adjusting sensors implemented for each different vehicle and exhaust system may also increase the production cost of a vehicle.